


Don’t Go Chasing Dolphin Pools

by LittleRocker



Series: Little Talks (tumblr one shots/drabbles or plot bunnies) [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dolphins, First Dates, First Meetings, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Robb Stark is a Gift, Theon Greyjoy is a Little Shit, Water Park, and rickon is an adorable little shit, and we love him for this, literally every time, robb dropped out of college, robb is an idiot who can’t watch where he’s going and theon is there to rescue him, robb stark is a dork, theon is a dolphin trainer, why is this not a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26114740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleRocker/pseuds/LittleRocker
Summary: From the text: Robb wasn’t supposed to do this. He was the oldest brother, he was seventeen years older than Rickon, how the hell did he end up wrapped around his little bony finger?Or, where Rickon finds out Robb secretly dropped out of uni and blackmails him in order to go to the water park. Things get interesting the moment he makes a fool of himself in front of everyone and suddenly he feels like he’s starring in Titanic.Or, again, three times Robb and Theon are soaking wet in front of each other.
Relationships: Theon Greyjoy/Robb Stark
Series: Little Talks (tumblr one shots/drabbles or plot bunnies) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1886563
Comments: 20
Kudos: 48





	1. Once is a mistake

**Author's Note:**

> I won’t have my laptop for the next week, and I didn’t want to rush writing what is probably one of the fluffiest chapters in Losing My Religion history, so I’m afraid you’ll have to wait til September. Hopefully, by September I’ll also bring a new chapter for Head Above Water. For now, to keep myself writing and being active, enjoy this tiny little thing here based on a stupid tumblr post of mine.

Robb wasn’t supposed to do this. He was the oldest brother, he was seventeen years older than Rickon, how the hell did he end up wrapped around his little bony finger?

He had underestimated him, that’s how he did.

Rickon was wiser than Robb would have ever imagined: there were times he thought that seven year old kid was too curious, so curious he looked too many things all at once and ended up noticing nothing.

When his mother had asked him to babysit him for a day, Robb had agreed, he always agreed since his breakup with Jeyne and had nothing to do: Rickon was good company, when he wasn0t going through one of his ‘phases’. Once he got obsessed with serial killers, and Robb was sure he would have had nightmares about Jeffery Dahmer for the rest of his life: when he had asked him whoever the hell had allowed a seven-year-old to search such things on the internet, Rickon hadn’t answered. Which lent to one simple suspect: Arya.

Ugh, sometimes Robb just didn’t know how their parents handled him. He just didn’t know how their mother managed not to strangle Rickon every time she caught him snooping around her things, like it happened to Robb that day: ‘I’m taking a shower’, he had told him, ‘you watch some tv’ and now like hell he ever trusted leaving his brother alone for more than thirty seconds ever again. Once he couldn’t find him in the living room, he had looked for him all around the house: he had finally found him in his room, emptying the box in which the words ‘books for Renly’ were written in block letters.

“Why do you want to give Renly your university books?” the kid had asked him. Robb didn’t even have the time to come up with something that Rickon had already connected the dots: “You want to quit?!”

Robb had inflated his cheeks, not really sure of what sound would have come out his mouth: an annoyed grunt because of Rickon not minding his own business? A frustrated laugh because of the fear of his sweet little shit of a baby brother would have definitely told their mother? Or an angry scream because he just had no idea what to do?

He had clenched his fists and tried to calm down. Rickon was staring at him with his innocent blue eyes full with curiosity.

Robb sighed, and kneeled down to reach his height: “This has to stay between you and me, okay?” he had said.

Rickon had just rolled his eyes, like Bran did whenever he heard someone saying something that wasn’t accurately correct, right before barging into the conversation with an ‘actually...’ and starting acting like the know-it-all he was. Robb just didn’t know who, of all their siblings (Robb himself included) was the worst influence to baby Rickon.

“It’s like you’re on a mission!” Robb exclaimed, trying to corrupt him: if he made sure it all sounded cooler than it actually was, if it made it look like Rickon was a spy whose mission was keeping a secret, maybe his little seven year old brain would have found it all funnier and somehow managed not to tell their mother.

Truth to be told, actually, it was not like Robb wanted to quit uni, he had already quit. Studying law just wasn’t his thing. Studying to become a lawyer aka someone he didn’t like to be, wasn’t his thing. It was tiring, it was trying even for Margaery who _loved_ studying law, let alone how trying it was for someone who didn’t. Sleepless nights studying for exams he would have passed just because he had to, waking up early and coming home late most of the time to study something he didn’t like. He was done with that.

He hadn’t told his parents yet because they had always worked their ass off in order to pay him university. He wanted to make them proud but he couldn’t succeed if he didn’t put his mental health first: all that studying was driving him nuts and he had to stop that. And once he found out Margaery’s brother would have liked to start their same university too, Robb had offered to sell him all his books.

He would have told his parents, of course, it was just a matter of days: he had called mum to tell her he would have showed up for dinner that weekend so that he could tell them everything. So that _he_ could tell them everything, not Rickon. Rickon was supposed to keep his little still filled with baby teeth mouth shut, because if he opened it, he would have unleashed a chaos endless times worse than Pandora’s when she opened the motherfucking box.

“My life depends on you, Rickon,” Robb had told him, dramatically. Well, actually, he was pretty serious: his mum would have skinned him if she found out thanks to Rickon. His life pretty much depended on that little boy. But Rickon looked up to his little brother, Robb was pretty much Rickon’s hero, he had nothing to fear.

Or, at least, so he thought.

Rickon had stared at him, those blue eyes shining wickedly. The most evil grin Robb had ever seen spread all over his face.

 _Arya is definitely the worst influence on him,_ Robb had thought, as he frowned anxiously, waiting to hear the blackmail.

“This means you have to do everything I say, if you don’t want me to tell mummy and daddy,” the kid had said.

Robb had sighed, rubbed a hand over his face, and now, a day later, there he was, walking around a water park with his little brother by his side, tugging at his sleeve whenever he saw _anything_.

“Look that slide, Robb! Can I go take a ride?” Rickon asked, beaming. Robb turned towards the direction Rickon’s small finger was pointing to, and the taste of vomit possessed his mouth almost instantly: Robb was a chickenshit only when it came to water and water-related things such as pools, or, in this case waterslides (blame it on his mother waiting until he was too frightened to tell him it was time to learn how to swim), but that thing was the hugest water-related thing he had ever seen in his whole life and he highly doubted a seven year old could ever be allowed to take a ride on _that_.

“I think you’re far too young for that one, buddy.” he said, patting his head on the kid’s head. Rickon pouted - he was extremely chill despite having Robb wrapped around his finger. Robb noticed the only reason why he had decided to be a little shit the previous day, was probably only because he was craving to go to the water park and no one wanted to take him. He had just taken advantage of Robb being in trouble to finally go and have some fun with one of his siblings, who were all far too old to play constantly with him.

Robb put a little more pressure on the kid’s head and ruffled his hair affectionately: “But we can go and take a look at the other slides and see which one is right for you, how about that?”

The smile on Rickon’s face came back all of sudden, as he held Robb’s hand tight and dragged him around the water park. He ended up going more or less into every attraction where he was allowed to go, as Robb stayed on solid ground and carefully kept an eye on him. The twenty-four year-old really did’t know how Rickon could still run around a few hours later, even Robb himself was exhausted and he didn’t even do anything.

“Did you have fun today, Rickon?” Robb asked his brother. The sun was about to set, he had to take Rickon back home because their mother was the strictest when it was about time schedules and if dinner was at six p.m. then dinner had to be at six p.m. (especially when Robb was coming over) otherwise she would have grounded both their asses, and Robb didn’t even live in the same house as his family anymore.

“Yes!” Rickon exclaimed, his little skinny arms wrapping around his waist.

“You’re the best big brother in the world!” Robb smirked: yes, he was. Well, maybe he wasn’t _the very best_ in that exact moment, since he was basically teaching his baby brother to keep things from their mother but come on, he had to tell her in person, he couldn’t just call her and tell her “yo mum, I dropped out of uni, see you tomorrow for dinner” if she would have skinned him if he told her in person, she would have killed him instantly if she found out thanks to someone or if he told her by the phone. So, somehow, Robb still _was_ the best big brother in the world: it wasn’t a lie, because nobody knew what he had done yet. Dad would have been a little more supportive, maybe and hopefully. Mum would have been too, but it would have taken her a little more time.

He was still thinking about how his parents and his siblings would react, when Rickon pulled at his sleeve once again, his tiny little finger pointing at a poster taped on the wall of a bulinding, still inside the water park.

“Robb! Look!” Rickon exclaimed.

Robb lowered his eyes towards the poster: “What is it?” He asked.

“They’re training dolphins!” Rickon threw both his hands up.

“Can we see it, please?”

Robb stared at the picture in the poster: there was a smiling (at least, it looked like it was smiling) dolphin staring at the trainer, who was doing a weird gesture with her hands. A little further away, in the background, there were smiling kids along with their parents, watching and clapping.

 _A wonderful dolphin show is coming soon!_ Robb read down below the picture. _In the meantime, assist these super funny training sessions!_ And then, underneath the photo, there was the time schedule. The training would have ended in about forty minutes, that day.

Robb stared at his little brother, as he held his hand tight and tried to come up with his best pair of puppy dog eyes.

“I don’t know Rickon, it’s getting quite late, mum would want you to...” Robb started, then he saw his baby brother’s lower lip leaning forward in a pleading pout: “Please?”

He sighed: “Rickon...” he had to tell their mum he had just dropped out of uni, he had to tell her when she was in a good mode enough to be supportive and not dangerously scary, because mum was the scariest when she got angry.

But then Rickon frowned, his eyes narrowing, his little mouth becoming a straight, strict line: there he was, he was on ‘little shit’ mode. Robb wanted to roll his eyes but he knew that would have only made things worse. And he just couldn’t believe he was thinking that, because it was his seven year old baby brother he was talking about, baby Rickon! Little baby shit Rickon Stark.

“ _Your life_ depends on _me_.” said the kid, his blue eyes were the same shade as Robb’s but the older brother never looked at someone in such an intimidating way. _Damn, this kid will rule over something, one day,_ Robb thought: he certainly did have the guts to. He would have become the boss of some company, Rickon definitely knew how to make people listen to him. That little...

“You little...” Robb scooped his brother up over his shoulder, carrying him inside the building where the so-called dolphin training was supposed to be. Rickon laughed and kicked until Robb let him on the ground again, fondly ruffling his hair; he was smiling. He was so satisfied he had got what he wanted and it was so annoying it almost looked adorable. That didn’t make any sense but with Rickon nothing did.

Robb had no idea where direction they were supposed to go, and there was no one near to ask for informations, so he just decided to follow the sound of clapping coming from the end of the hall. And that’s how they got in front of an enormous dolphin pool, with bleachers all around. The ceiling was open, so it was like being at the stadium, but instead of the field, there was a pool.

People were not sitting on the bleachers, though: there was a large aisle between them and the pool, and all the parents and their kids assisting to the dolphin training were standing there, their eyes open wide and their mouths O-shaped.

Robb had never seen a dolphin. Never in his life. He knew they were extremely smart animals but yeah, they were fish, it’s not like fish could be that smart. But when he looked over to see the training too, he could bet his ass his face had become just like other people’s: eyes and mouth open wide, staring in shock. Not because of the dolphin though. Definitely not because of the dolphin.

You see, Robb had always known was bisexual. Though right now, it was as if that dude in front of him was craving to remind him: he was so hot Robb feared he could catch fire. And he was looking at him from behind.

The dolphin trainer was wearing a full body swimsuit, all black with two vertical yellow lines starting from his shoulder to his ankles. That swimsuit was so tight it almost looked like a second skin, and Robb could do nothing but appreciate the show in front of him: his hips were two lightly curved lines, so neat it was like they were painted. And that _ass_ , oh my fucking god.

The dolphin trainer bent over to grab a bucket so that he could throw some food at the dolphin. _Well, holy shit._

He turned around a little, so now Robb could see his profile: his nose was lightly hooked, but it looked good with his tanned skin tone and his black hair so long they almost reached his shoulders. His hands were long, smooth, and they were making weird gestures that only the dolphin in front of him was able to understand. One gesture and the dolphin spun around, another one and the dolphin stood up on its fucking tail (how the hell was that even possible?) and jumped around, another one and the dolphin did something else. The trainer even played fetch, with it: he threw a small red ball into the pool and the dolphin ran (swam?) to it and brought it back. Everyone was clapping and the dolphin looked like he was smiling. Robb saw the dolphin trainer smirking, enjoying the compliments, but he didn’t dare turning around to face the crowd taking pictures and videos of him. Instead, he just bent down again ( _oh my god_ ) and grabbed the dolphin’s face in between his hands: “Good girl Molly, who’s a good girl?” he told the dolphin.

“You are!”

Robb couldn’t hold back a smile: he did that as well with his dog, talking to your dog was absolutely normal, especially if your dog was your best friend, but that was no dog, that was a dolphin and that dolphin looked so fucking happy to be praised it was almost cute to see.

“Give me a kiss, come on, such a good girl!” the dolphin trainer rested his lips above the animal’s long mouth, once, twice. Then it kissed it (her?) on the head.

Everyone was clapping at him like he was some sort of celebrity, Rickon included. Well, he definitely did have the right looks it took to be a celebrity, Robb had to admit that. Maybe bringing Rickon to the water park hadn’t been such a bad thing, after all, especially after the ‘show’ he just enjoyed watching.

Too bad the show ended too soon: Robb had to look away from the unfairly good looking dolphin trainer once his phone started ringing in his pocket. He lightly patted Rickon’s head as he walked away and gesturing the kid to stay where he was: he could still watch the training if he wanted to, but Robb had to get away for a minute, there was too much noise. 

“Hey mum?” he answered, scratching the back of his neck. He was expecting his mother to be a little annoyed because they weren’t home yet and dinner was probably almost ready, but he only got half of that right: mum was mad, but not becasue they were late. She had found out.

“Would you just explain to your mother why the hell Margaery Tyrell told me you quit university?!” she yelled.

Robb clenched his teeth: “Oh shit” he cursed.

“Robert Stark!”

He ran a hand to his hair to resist the urge to bite into it because of all the frustration and anxiety he was feeling: “How did you even find out?!”

His mother groaned, loudly, and she never groaned: “I met her at the grocery store, Robb! Why did I have to find out from her and not from you?!”

Robb shrugged: “In my defense, I would have told you tonight, at dinner.” he said. He would have, he really would. It wasn’t something he could have kept from her forever, he had to tell her, but why, why did he have to find out on her own?! It where moments like this when Robb felt like he was fifteen again, with his mum grounding his ass off and forbidding him to play video games and stuff like that. He was sure his mum could still have grounded him if she wanted to and she would have been scary enough to make Robb accept his grounding, although Robb now was an adult who no longer played video games (not that often, at least): what would she do then? Forcing him to go back living with the family? No god, please no. Robb had his independence now, he loved his small little personal house, she could not take it away from him. He had decided to quit it because he was doing something he didn’t like and that wans’t healthy for him and she had to understand that, no matter how much she would have wanted him to become a lawyer. 

“You just _can’t_ drop out of uni, Robb! What about...”

Robb interrupted her right away: “What about what? Why do you think I did it? Because I was drunk and decided to drop out for a bet?!”

“Do not talk to me like that!” she yelled so loud and angrily it almost sounded as she had barked.

Robb ran a hand through his hair once again, still walking distractedly: “Come on, try to understand me for o...” he stopped walking the moment his foot did not touch the ground but felt emptiness underneath, instead. Robb stumbled, lost his balance, he barely even had the time to look at where he had stumbled, and then _splash!_ He was underwater, everything was fucking _blue_ and oh my fucking god. He had just fallen into the fucking dolphin pool. And Robb hated pools and everything that was water related. He knew how to swim, but not when he was panicking, and now _he was_ panicking, because he didn’t know where the fuck he was, he didn’t know what he should do, he didn’t even know how he ended up like that. He just knew that the more he tried to push himself up, the more he felt like drowning. That was until he felt something somehow pointy, tapping his thigh, all of sudden. If he had barely managed to swim almost back to the surface, now he was so scared he could have passed out.

He took courage (he would have taken a deep breath but guess what, he couldn’t) and opened his eyes: the motherfucking dolphin was staring at him, _still smiling._

Robb was about to scream at the top of his lungs: he wanted that thing to get away from him, to stay away, he could have just opened up his mouth and let the water choke him and he was about to, he really was about to, but two strong firm hands grabbing him from under his armpits prevented him from doing so; and suddenly, he fresh air hit his face so hard and beautifully and Robb could breathe again.

Then his eyes met two dark brown iris lightly covers by long strands of wer black hair and then that sea best nuzzled his face against his body again, and he stopped breathing again, his whole body going numb and letting the arm of the dolphin trainer wrap tightly around his waist.

“Hey!” The guy said, a confused expression on his face.

“Hold on, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

Robb felt the dolphin moving between his legs and curled up even more against the stranger’s chest: “Tell it to go away please.” he whispered, gulping. It was like his heart was about to rip his chest apart and runaway, he just wanted to get back on solid ground.

The dolphin trainer sent the big fish away with a quick yet firm gesture, as the motherfucker kept on smiling and moved away.

The man started swimming towards the end of the pool, as Robb kept his arms wrapped tight around his neck and his eyes closed: if he met the gaze of all of those people staring at them, he probably would have let go of that guy and let himself drown because of the embarrassment. He was twenty four and full grown, he was with his little brother, yet he had just fallen into a pool in front of dozens of little kids. Robb couldn’t hear any voice, but he guessed the parents were telling their kids that _that_ was one of the reasons why you should learn to swim. And that made him feel bad enough.

Finally, the dolphin trainer grabbed him by his armpits once again, and literally lifted him so that he could sit on the floor, _on the floor,_ again. Once Robb felt solid, steady and safe ground under his backside, he let himself fall with his back on the concrete, hitting his head a little painfully but feeling pain at least meant he was still alive, he wasn’t dead. He closed his eyes, as a large wet hand patted his cheek gently and brushed a few locks away from his forehead: “It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re safe now.” said the dolphin trainer deep and raspy voice.

People started clapping.

Robb opened up his eyes, only to go back staring into the stranger’s once again: “Oh my _fucking_ god...” he groaned, his hand rubbing his forehead.

Quick footsteps reached for them, along with a small chuckle: “That was so embarrassing, I wish I got that on video!”

Robb frowned hard at his little brother’s words: “You shut up!” he yelled, sitting back up all of sudden, causing the dolphin trainer to move away as fast as he could. They did not smash their faces together, fortunately, but the tip of their noses touched gently.

Robb blushed, and for a moment he felt so warm in was like he dried in the blink of an eye. But it lasted a second only.

“Oh, sorry...” he whispered. The warm feeling had left his body, but the blush on his cheeks didn’t, apparently: the guy stared at his flushed cheeks with a cocky grin on his lips: “It’s getting hot in here, huh?”

He was really, really, _really_ attractive when he smiled like that, but Robb just couldn’t let himself blush once again.

“Oh is it? Because I’m fucking freezing” he snapped, and the guy’s smirk grew wider (and he got even more beautiful). He nodded, smacked his hands lightly against his own thighs and stood up: “Right, I’ll lend you some clothes. Follow me.” he said.

Robb stared at him in confusion as he turned towards the crowd with a shining smile and clapped his hands once: “Okay guys, I’m sorry but the show is over. We’ll be back tomorrow, you know where the door is!” he still pointed towards it with both hands. The crowd started to move away, a few parents stopping in front of the dolphin trainer to congratulate him for the training and the rescue and eventually patting his shoulder. Theon smiled to them all but it was a very different smile compared to the one he had when he was staring at Robb.

Once most of the people were gone, the guy turned around to stare at Robb. He was still on the ground, soaking wet, drops falling from his hair to his cheeks and nose. The guy gestured him to hurry up and started walking.

 _Do not treat me like one of your fucking dolphins_ Robb was about to tell him that, but it would have been useless: he told him to follow him, it meant he wanted to help him, it had to be that way. Robb stood up - his wet clothes made him feel like he was a hundred pounds heavier and he was trembling.

“ _Stop_ laughing.” he told Rickon, barely managing not to smack the back of his head, as he followed the dolphin trainer guy towards the locker room. The guy was still wearing his swimsuit as he opened a locker and pulled out a long sleeved shirt and a pair of pants.

“Here” he said, handing the clothes to Robb. The guy was a few inches taller than him, so his clothes would have been a little big on him. The pants would have surely been, Robb didn’t have such long skinny legs.

“Thank you.” he said, nodding in gratitude, as the boy simply winked at him and grabbed some more clothes from his locker. He reached out for his back and unzipped his full body swimsuit, turning around. Robb opened his mouth to tell him not to dare undressing in front of a seven year old, but the guy had already hidden behind the other wall of the locker, leaving Robb just a brief moment to stare at his bare, tanned back. There was a huge tattoo on his back - it looked like a squid, but much more monstrous. Judging by its tentacles interrupting abruptly, Robb guessed the tattoo expanded on his chest too. He would have liked to see it. Instead, he just stared at Rickon and ordered him to turn around and cover his eyes as he changed. Rickon grunted but he obeyed.

The warm fabric of the shirt warmed him up lovingly. It smelled like tobacco and something sweet too, like a pastry or a donut. It was a nice smell. The pants were obviously too big on Robb, so much he feared he could have stumbled on them. They were a little too tight, too. But he wouldn’t complain: that dude was a stranger yet he had basically saved his life and was lending him some clothes too.

“How did you even fall in there?” the dolphin dude came back fully clothed: he had a short sleeved creamed-color shirt that made his olive skin stand out. Robb could see the end of an anchor tattooed on the same arm where the squid was too, a little higher. His black hair was still wet and falling above his forehead and eyes. He was still smirking, like that damn dolphin a few minutes ago.

Robb scratched the back of his neck: “I, ugh... I was arguing with my mum...”

“Because he dropped out of college,” Rickon pointed out proudly, his hands behind his back, as he swayed his heels back and forth.

“Shut _up_.” Robb grunted, right before going back staring at the man. “Thank you, again.” he said.

The guy just looked at him from head to toe. Robb could swear he even saw him biting down his lower lip: “You look good in my clothes.” he stated, dimples in plain sight and teeth as white as snow. He extended a hand:“I’m Theon, by the way.”

Theon, cool name. For a dolphin trainer.

The twenty-four year old grabbed the hand and shook it firmly: “Robb,” he answered.

“And I’m Rickon!”

Theon stared at the kid with a hint of amusement in his eyes. “First time seeing the dolphin training, I guess” he said.

Robb nodded and ran a hand through his still wet hair: he would have caught a cold, that was for sure. _Well, if I’m sick mum will be less mad at me, though._

“You’re guessing right”

“It was so cool!” Rickon got near them and grabbed Robb by his sleeve once again.

Theon grinned and lightly bent down to look at the little boy in the eye: “Cooler than your bother falling into the pool?” he asked, then paled. He stood back up, and stared at Robb with eyes wide open, as if he was suddenly feeling guilty about something: “You’re... brothers right?”

Robb blinked. Once, twice.

“Wha... yeah, _of course_ , how old to you think I am?” He exclaimed. He was very well aware that he and Rickon looked pretty much alike (they were brothers, duh), but there was no way in hell or heaven or earth or whatever that Robb would have had a kid at seventeen. Because that was what Theon was thinking, right? He couldn’t have thought Robb was old enough to have a seven year old, Robb wasn’t _that_ old yet.

Theon started laughing heartedly at his face, and all the guilty and embarrassment had already disappeared.

“Right, sorry. Sorry. Anyway, you shouldn’t be so scared of dolphins, they’re cool creatures,” he said, shrugging.

Well it was easy for him, he worked with dolphins. Robb had never seen a dolphin in his whole life: that could have easily been mistaken for a shark.

“How would you feel if a giant fish started nuzzling into you while you’re drowning?” he replied, folding his arms.

Still smiling, Theon raised his index finger towards him, as to correct him: “Okay, first of all, dolphins aren’t fish, they’re mammals,” he said in fact. “And second, unless somebody ties an anchor to my feet and throws me into the sea, I wouldn’t drown, because I _can_ swim.”

Robb rolled his eyes: “I can swim too, I was just panicking,” he mumbled. And that was the truth, wasn’t it? Of course it was.

“How do you even fall into a dolphin pool while you’re talking on the phone?” Theon went on teasing him, probably expecting another teasing in return. He was starting to enjoy it and so was Robb. But the word ‘phone’ made a bell ring inside the redhead’s mind: “ _Fuck_ , my phone!”

He ran back to the pool, followed by Theon and Rickon. He didn’t even know why he was looking for his phone: by now, it would have been dead and gone. And his mum would have killed him for hunging up in her face and not answering her following calls, because she _would_ have called, at least a thousand times.

Robb had no idea if phones could float or not, but he was expecting to see at least a black spot somewhere at the bottom of the pool. But there wasn’t that either. There was just that damn smiling dolphin, staring at them by the edge of the pool, with something in its mouth. Something black and small.

_I hate dolphins._

Theon chuckled lightly behind him, and suddenly his hand was resting on his back: “It’s okay, she won’t hurt you,” he said, like he was expecting Robb to walk towards the dolphin and grab his phone by himself. No, thank you.

Robb stared at him in shock, as if to tell him he had completely lost his mind. Theon just rolled his eyes in response and walked towards the dolphin - he grabbed the phone from its mouth then kissed the _mammal_ on its round and extremely big head.

Once he handed Robb his phone, he nodded towards the dolphin: “At this point you should at least thank her.”

 _I’m not doing it_. But Theon was staring at him like he would have thrown him into the pool again if he didn’t do that, and Robb really didn’t want to test his patience. So he turned towards the dolphin and whispered a weak: “Thank you.”

The dolphin made the weirdest noise Robb had ever heard. Rickon laughed out loud, and ran towards Theon: “Can I pet her?” He asked him.

He nodded: “Of course you can.”

Robb sighed, let his baby brother pet that rounded-headed animal a couple times, then extended his hand for him to grab it: “Okay we should seriously head back home now.” It was late, maybe not for Robb but it was for Rickon: he still had to have dinner, and Rickon always felt sick if he had dinner too late.

Robb stared at the dolphin guy, forcing himself to smile a little: “Thank you, really, so much. I owe you, I really do.”

Theon just shook his head: “Nah, don’t worry mate. It’s okay.”

“No seriously, I mean, if you need anything...” to be honest, Robb only wanted to see him again: he was hot, and he looked like a little shit, but he was into that. And Theon was into him too, Robb knew that: he wasn’t blind, he saw how he kept smirking at him and biting his lips, let alone all the teasing such as ‘it’s getting hot in here’ and ‘you look good in my clothes’. He _was_ into Robb, but he just wanted Robb to pine a little more. Definitely a little shit.

“What, I’ll call you? Yeah, I don’t think so.” he said, in fact.

“It’s okay, really. Just, make sure you show up to bring me back my clothes, huh?” he winked at him, this time just one dimple showed up. His eyelashes, Robb noticed, were so long and dark it looked like he was wearing mascara. Maybe he was.

“Oh yeah right. Sure,” he said, as Rickon finally approached him and grabbed his hand.

Theon shook his head so that his black hair could whip around, making him look like some model in some cologne advertisement: “I work here mostly during the weekend, til seven. Unless there’s a show in the evening, obviously.” he told Robb.

He nodded: “Okay. I’ll show up in a few days, I’ll make sure I’ll wash your clothes.”

Theon winked at him, again: “Sure. See ya, Robb”

Robb allowed himself to wink back: “See you, Theon. Come on, Rickon,” he enjoyed Theon’s surprised smirk for a minute, then begun walking away, as his brother turned around and waved his hand: “Bye Theon! Bye Molly!” He yelled. Theon waved back at him, as the dolphin made that horrible sound again.

“He’s cool” Rickon claimed, as they were heading towards the car, ready to go home, finally.

“Is he?” Robb said, smirking.

“Yeah”

He let go of his brother’s hand so that he could playfully ruffle his hair: “You had a little too much fun today, munchkin.” And he had, the little shit. Robb didn’t have fun, instead. At all. But he was about to have some, very soon.


	2. Twice is a coincidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little useless detail: in this story, Margaery is older than Loras.
> 
> Hope you like it! :)

“So let me get this straight or, I should say, let me get this _gay_ ” Loras’ face came out of the curtains of Renly’s dressing room. The biggest room in Renly’s place was his walk-in closet: it was so huge it looked like a shop itself, and Renly was very well aware of that, since he decided to add two dressing rooms in there, with curtains, mirror and wall hangers and everything else a typical dressing room of a typical shop had. Fun thing was that he decided to buy second hand university books from Robb, instead.

Renly rolled his eyes at his boyfriend’s joke, and took another drag from his electronic cigarette, one leg resting above the other as he sat on the couch.

“This hot dude was hitting on you and you didn’t even ask him out?”

Now it was Robb’s time to roll his eyes: talking to them about what happened had been a terrible idea.

“He wasn’t hitting on me, he was _making fun of me.”_ He pointed out. That Theon guy was probably the most good looking person he got to see in a while, yet that didn’t make him attracted to guys. And to be honest, if he was attracted to guys, Robb didn’t have any chance with him: he had made a fool of himself in front of him, in the most embarrassing way ever. Seriously, who falls into a swimming pool while they’re arguing with their mum over the phone?

“Some guys use teasing as their secret weapon” Renly said, winking and smirking mischievously at his boyfriend. Loras blew him a kiss, as Robb huffed: of course. They had met a few years ago at some bar, they started talking once they both realized they couldn’t take their eyes off each other. It was always so easy for them.

The moment Robb had left the water park with Rickon, he couldn’t wait to get back there to bring Theon his clothes and eventually get his number: he got a new phone on the way home, but that caused him to bring Rickon home past his curfew and no excuse had been good enough to make his mum less mad at him. After that, all his confidence had disappeared: he no longer thought the hot dolphin trainer was somehow hitting on him, quite the opposite. Robb had humiliated himself both in front of boys and girls, damn, he had been the most awkward guy on earth when he first met Jeyne, and a few girls and guys had acted awkward with him as well. Although, none of them had ever looked less than adorable, to him. Because blushing and looking at your shoes while you were talking to someone you liked was adorable. Falling into a swimming pool in front of a hot dude wasn’t.

“Yeah, I don’t think he does” Robb shook his head, briefly staring at Loras tying his black and glittery bow-tie.

“Come on, didn’t you just say the said something like ‘it’s getting hot in here’ while you two were face to face?” Loras huffed and untied his bow tie with a grunt.

“Yeah but...” Robb shrugged.

“I don’t know, it just seemed... like he was making fun of me”

“Oh but he was,” Renly stood up, took another drag from his electronic cigarette and then started looking for something inside one of the closets.

“He just probably thought you were hot. Since, well, you are.” Robb blushed at his friend’s words, but Renly didn’t even notice him and just kept talking. “If he thought you were just stupid, he would have probably told you so. Instead, he teased you: he probably wanted you to tease back and make the conversation a little more interesting.” he was talking as if all his words were some kind of obvious law Robb should have known since forever, which he didn’t. Robb wasn’t a tease when he flirted with someone he was just... nice?

“Teasing is the same thing as flirting, to certain people” Renly added, then stared at Loras as if to say ‘and this dude is one of them’.

Loras had barely turned twenty-one, Renly had a thing for younger fellows. He was indeed a hot guy as well, Robb had known him for three years, and he highly doubted any other teen could have looked as beautiful as he was when he was just eighteen years old. Renly was five years older than him, getting closer to his thirties, as Loras liked to remind him more or less everyday (he _was_ a tease, after all) and they were meant for each other. Blame it on their good looks or just the fact that they actually completed each other, they were one the missing piece of the other, but their relationship _worked_. Sure, they got into fights and stuff like that, but they loved each other and they did look like a couple. Robb and Jeyne didn’t: he never really felt like he was dating her, she seemed more like an aquaintance than a girlfriend, she didn’t even feel like a friend. She was sweet, and gentle, and she deserved the best, but being with her was just weird. Uncomfortable. Out of place. Robb didn’t even know how they managed to last that long, almost a whole year. And Jeyne was that kind of girl that was _right_ for him, meant for him. At least, that was what his mum used to tell him. Theon looked nothing like Jeyne, that couldn’t have worked, not even if the guy wasn’t straight. Or maybe it could, since he was so different from Jeyne, because maybe that was what Robb needed.

_Yeah but you don’t even know him, stop trying to make a personality out of him when you barely talked to him once._

“How do I know if he’s interested?” He asked, folding his arms to his chest.

Renly kept his eyes on the fancy suits in front of him: “Well, first of all, go back to the water park and bring him his clothes back. Try this, love” he grabbed a blue velvet suit and helped Loras getting inside of it. They would have had to attend an important dinner in a few days, something regarding Loras’ father and his company. Now, if Renly had a thing for younger guys, Loras had a thing for stealing his boyfriend’s clothes: Robb knew pretty well Loras didn’t own as many clothes as Renly, but he was quite close. Although, if Loras’ defense, Robb didn’t recall him owning a blue velvet suit, and he looked amazing in that.

“You’re gorgeous, baby” Renly whispered, as he pressed a kiss to his boyfriend’s temple. Loras smiled lightly, his cheeks blushing of the shyest shade of red. Robb rolled his eyes.

Renly turned his attention to the redhead, finally, as he hugged Renly from behind: “Then,” he begun, “you could just ask him out for a drink, you know, to ‘thank him’”

“Yeah but what if he says no?” Robb shook his head at how stupid he himself was: if he said no then it meant he wasn’t interested in him, and that he had teased him because he thought he was an idiot not because that was his ‘flirting method’.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Stark!” Loras exclaimed. “You called us the other day to tell us how he kept smirking and winking at you and you too were absolutely certain he was into you, what’s happened now?”

It happened that Robb didn’t know what to do. He liked how he acted like a little shit, and the other day he had thought he was doing that because he was interested in him. Now, he just couldn’t believe a guy that good looking could have wanted to go out on a date with the idiot he had to rescue from the dolphin pool.

All his self esteem had disappeared the moment he had fully acknoweledged how embarrassing he must have looked.

“It’s just... I fell into the pool and he had to rescue me” he said, like that explained everything: he acted like an idiot, and the hot dolphin trainer just could not find him hot, at all. And that was it.

“Yeah and he even let you borrow his clothes.” Renly said. “I doubt he would have let you if he wasn’t interested, I could never lend a guy my clothes unless he’s unfairly good looking.”

Loras turned around and smirked evilly: “Like me?” He asked.

Renly chuckled, and smacked a hand down his backside: “Yeah, just like you.”

Robb rolled his eyes. Again. They were so... disgustingly adorable. Although, watching them French kissing in a walk in closet when you were the only person in the room apart from them, wasn’t exactly as adorable.

“Robb...” Renly mumbled, Loras tongue moving inside his mouth and making every sound feel wet and muffled.

“Yes, my friend?” Robb replied sarcastically, staring at everything in the room but the couple making out.

“You said you already washed the guy’s clothes, didn’t you?”

Robb nodded: “Yeah, why?”

Renly’s hands slipped down over the fabric of Loras’ pants and squeezed his ass: “Maybe you should bring them back, like right now”

Robb snorted: of course. Of fucking course. _Let the winners of the award “Best Couple in the world” have some sex while you’re gonna go and start yet another embarrassing conversation with the hot dolphin trainer while a big rounded headed mammal will be staring at you all the time._

But yeah, the sooner he brought his clothes back, the sooner he would have figured out if the hot dude was into him or not.

“I hate you” he snapped, but did as he was suggested anyway: if he didn’t, he doubted Loras and Renly would have given two shits about fucking in front of him. The moment he left the room he heard something crashing to the ground and a muffled laughter, then the sound of a playful smack. He shook his head, and speeded up his pace.

He took Rickon with him: he didn’t really know why he did it, that simply reduced the chances to have a flirty conversation with Mr Tease.Although, Rickon had begged him to bring him along the time he would have had to bring the clothes to the hot dude, so that he could see the dolphins again. That little guy was lucky Robb was a wonderful older brother.

It had been a week since their day out at the water park, it had been a week since he had last seen the dolphin trainer guy. It had been a week and all he had done was getting paranoid over the dolphin trainer hitting on him or making fun of him.

_Well, I guess I’ll figure it out today._

He had to hold Rickon’s hand tight because the kid was most likely to run off and Robb already barely had the time to keep an eye on him: last thing he needed was his baby brother to fall into the dolphin pool as well.

They got inside the building: the training had already started, he could hear the crowd cheering and clapping. Rickon tugged on his hand, to urge him into walking faster, and Robb did so: at least, this way he had an excuse to get there as soon as he could.

Fun thing is, delusion hit him hard once he saw the dolphin trainer everybody was applauding, wasn’t Theon: it was a girl, with dark short hair. Pretty disappointing, since the guy had told Robb he worked mostly during the weekend and it was Saturday: where the hell was he? How was Robb supposed to bring him back his clothes if he wasn’t there?

Rickon didn’t seem to care at all, why would he? He was there to see the dolphins. All Robb could do was sitting in one of the bleachers and nervously look around: if only his phone didn’t fall into the pool with him, by now he would have had Theon’s number and he even could have asked him to meet him to give him his clothes _somewhere else._ Instead, there he was, watching a dolphin training, and even if Theon wasn’t there, Robb could have bet his ass that was the same dolphin. The one who scared the hell out of him while he was drowning, the one who thought it would be fun to grab his phone between its teeth. The one Robb had to _thank_.

“It’s so cool!” Rickon exclaimed.

Robb patted his head: “Yeah buddy, so cool” he mumbled: he wasn’t even watching. He was just wondering where Theon could be: maybe he was sick. Maybe he just took a day off because it was his and his girlfriend’s (or boyfriend’s) anniversary. Maybe he just didn’t have to work that day. Robb would have just liked to know that in advance, so that he wouldn’t have had to go there with a bag full of a strager’s clothes and a little brother who just couldn’t stay still.

By the time the training was done and people were starting to stand up from the bleachers and leave, Theon still hadn’t made an appearance. Robb wondered how many other water park tickets he should have bought before he finally got to see him and give him his clothes: he did say he worked there most of the weekends, yet where was he?

If only his phone didn’t...

“Robb, there’s an ugly vein in the middle of your forehead”

The redhead huffed, as his little brother went back holding his hand: “Yeah, that happens when I think too much” he said.

They walked towards the exit, though they were the only one left in the room: the dolphin trainer had finished her show, and she had left towards the dressing room. Robb knew the dressing room was there because Theon had led him there, to lend him his clothes.

“Then stop thinking that much: you look ugly” Rickon said. Robb laughed at that: as an older brother, he should have felt the need to smack his little brother’s head, although he loved the way Rickon acted like him when he was his age. Or, how he would have wanted to act, when he was his age. Rickon was the baby of the family, so he was allowed to be a little shit. Robb was the oldest, and he was supposed to be the mature one. He couldn’t really blame him, for being that way: if his mother didn’t constantly bother him with the usual ‘you’re the older brother’ talk, he would have acted way, way worse than him.

“Is it because the other dolphin trainer wasn’t here today?” Rickon added, staring curiously at him.

Robb just shrugged: “I just...”

“I like him better too, but it was still cool today!” Rickon said, a big bright smile on his face. They were walking near the edge of the pool, and honestly a smarter man wouldn’t have done so, but if there was one thing Robb knew, that thing was that he was no smart man.

But hey, Rickon was the closer one to the pool, and the dolphin seemed to like him pretty much since the last time, when he got to pet it, because it was swimming near them, its big round head lightly coming out the water. It still looked like it was laughing at Robb and he couldn’t stand it.

“I know buddy, but I have to give him his clothes back” he said: that was mostly the reason why it was taking them so long to leave, they were walking so slowly when everybody had already left: it was like Robb was waiting Theon to come up suddenly and magically, maybe directly from the pool. Maybe with a tail instead of his legs. Damn. That would have been weird. Sexy, somehow, but still weird.

“But he’s not here!” Rickon exclaimed, causing his mind to concentrate back on reality. He sighed: “Yeah, I think I’ll just ask the other dolphin trainer, maybe I’ll just leave her the bag...” _if she shows up._

Why were they alone? Wasn’t that place supposed to be controlled, to have security? What if someone got in and... stole a dolphin?

The two brothers stayed there, still, standing by the edge of the pool, Rickon absently staring at the dolphin and it staring right back. There was no one around. It looked kind of creepy. Last thing Robb needed was to get locked in there all night.

He kept looking around, wondering if he should just leave the bag there, go look for someone, anyone, or just leave and call the following day and ask if he could speak to Theon. Actually, why didn’t he do that before? Damn, he always had to look stupid.

Suddenly, Rickon pulled his sleeve, tight: “What is it?” Robb said, staring down at him.

The little redhead in front of him was smiling, his blue eyes looking perky and dangerously innocent.

“Can I hold the bag?” He said, extending a hand.

Recltuantly, Robb handed him the cotton bag he used to use when he went shopping: “Sure but... what do you need it for?” he asked.

Rickon just shrugged: “I know how to make the other dolphin trainer appear!” He whispered, a hand over his mouth, as if he was telling him a secret.

Robb folded his arms to his chest and his eyebrow curled up: “Oh, do you?”

Rickon nodded repeatedly: “Molly told me!” he pointed to the dolphin. It was still there, with its head above the water, smiling, as if it was fucking making fun of Robb. His eyebrow raised even more: “Did she?”

Rickon hugged the bag to his chest: “She did! She’s really smart, she’s a dolphin!”

Robb pursed his lips: his baby brother was adorable but right now he didn’t need him to make friends with that _fish_. Because it _was_ a fish, it had flippers, a tail, a stupid face and looked dumb as hell. And Robb hated fish.

“So tell me, how do you plan on...” Robb couldn’t even finish his sentence: Rickon’s hands rested on his belly and pushed as much as he could, with all the strength he had in that tiny bony body. He was surprisingly strong for being that skinny and that small. And he managed to do what he wanted to do perfectly: Robb fell into the pool, _again_. The dolphin started swimming underneath him. Again. He felt like drowning. _Again_.

Water invaded his ears, his nostrils, every part of him but his mouth. Although, he still hear Rickon screaming happily, from the surface: “I _knew_ it!”

There was another splash on the water. Robb didn’t dare opening his eyes, yet he felt relieved when an arm wrapped around his waist and lifted him up, until he no longer felt water on his face.

He opened his eyes the moment his back rested onto the floor, much like the last time: Theon was right there, above him, staring down at him. His hair was wet, sticking onto his cheeks and forehead and neck and his white shirt was attached to his body and _holy fuck_ , that was a nice body.

His black eyebrows were frowning, his dark eyes staring at him as if to say: ‘seriously?’.

“Why is it that you’re wet every time we run into each other?!” Theon snapped, he was so incredulous he was even laughing.

Robb felt his cheeks going on fire: there he was, teasing him again.Although, Robb couldn’t really blame him: he had fallen into the damn dolphin pool twice. He had to rescue him twice.

“Why is it that you show up only when I’m about to die?” He asked in return.

Theon snorted, smirking, and he winked at him: “Well, next time I’ll just let you drown in front of your little brother, then”

He was still teasing him, yet he winked. It meant he was interest or kind of, didn’t it? Maybe Renly was right, some dudes considered teasing as equal as flirting.

“Can’t believe I owe you again” Robb shook his head and stood up; Rickon was laughing his ass off nearby and oh dear, Robb could have strangled him, the little shit. Instead, he just grabbed the bag from his hands and handed it to Theon: “Here. I came back to bring you your clothes: seems like you need to change” he said.

Theon took the bag in his hands, his smirk growing bigger: “So do you” he said.

Well, yeah right. Though this time Theon wasn’t wearing his swimming suit and therefore he got his usual clothes soaking wet, and those inside Robb’s bag were his clothes. He shrugged: “Yeah but this is your stuff.”

Robb would have definitely enjoyed staring at Theon in that wet white shirt, because he could see his abs damn well and his tattoos as well: the tentacles on his shoulders, the anchor on his arm, something that looked like a mix between an helm and a compass on his left side. He could have stared at him all day, yet it was not the time to be creepy: they were soaking wet in front of each other, and all this because Robb couldn’t act his age and ended up falling into a seven year old’s trap. And this time it was double embarrassing.

Theon’s tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth, dimples cutting vertical cute thin holes in his tanned cheeks: “You’re lucky I have some more clothes in the dressing room” he said, then he left. He had brought Robb’s bag with his clothes along too, so Robb guessed he should have followed him.

“Why do you keep so many clothes in the place you work?” Rickon asked Theon, his littleshort legs struggling to keep up with the man’s long skinny ones.

Theon smirked once again: “It’s useful: you never know what might happen. Right, Robb?” he turned to the redhead and smiled and Robb paled: he was shocked that he even remembered his name. Sure, Robb remembered Theon’s name damn well because, look at him, once you get to see those legs and booty and hair and face and everything else, the moment you find out his name you barely can get it out of your head.

“Look, I’m sorry” Robb said, the moment they got inside the dressing room.

Theon’s eyes landed on his, curiously. Robb went on: “I really didn’t mean to, it was so embarrassing...”

He just couldn’t tell him he had fallen into the pool twice because his little brother was a little shit who caught him by surprise: it would have been double embarrassing.

Then, for the first time, something in Theon’s eyes changed: he was no longer staring at him as if he wanted to make fun of him 24/7, not anymore. His stare had somehow softened, and now his eyes looked as warm as hit chocolate. God, a mug of hot chocolate would have been great, right now. Or some alcohol, yeah, some alcohol would have been good just as much.

“It’s okay” Theon said as he literally threw him a pair of jeans and a red plaid shirt.

“I enjoy saving you” he whispered, though loud enough for Robb to hear him and blush as the man got rid of his shirt and grabbed the clothes inside the bag.

Do it. Robb told himself: it would have been the only way to know if the hot dolphin trainer was into him.

“Listen, huh” he started, as Theon hid behind a locker to change.

“Yeah?”

“Can I offer you a drink? You know, since you saved my ass twice” he said, scratching the back of his neck. Rickon chuckled lightly, a hand over his mouth, and Robb gave him a death stare that caused him to shut up right away.

“That depends” Theon said, his voice echoing in the room.

“On what?” Robb gestured Rickon to turn around as he removed his pants and underwear: Theon’s jeans were once again too long and too tight on him, but it was still better than wandering around with his pants soaking wet. He still had to put them fully on when Theon’s face popped out the wall where he was hiding: “On the place where you want to take me.”

He didn’t seem bothered at all by Robb’s blush and the way he urged zipping the jeans as quickly as he could, and just kept talking: “You must take me into a nice place if you want to thank me properly.”

Robb pretended to check for something on Rickon’s hair to hide his shame: “Yeah sure, you pick the place” he mumbled, as Rickon smacked his hands away from his curls. Talking to Theon made him feel so... stupid. They had met each other in the most shameful, embarrassing, stupid, hilarious way ever and now Robb believed everything he said or did looked just as dumb.

Yet, once he came out fully dressed in his new (well, old) clothes, Theon’s smile was still soft: “I’m kidding, everything is fine.” he said.

“It’s just... is your wallet safe? And your phone?”

For the first time, Robb found himself smiling: “Oh yeah,” he said. “I thought it wouldn’t have taken me long, so I left everything in the car.”

That was probably the smartest thing he had done in the last two weeks. Way to go Robb, keep going.

“But then you didn’t show up!” Rickon said.

Robb’s eyes widened at his brother’s words: “Rickon, that’s not nice! Mind your own business!” he scolded him, although, truth to be told, he was craving to know why the hell Theon wasn’t there that day.

The dolphin trainer chuckled at Rickon, and shrugged: “Family matters: my mum wasn’t feeling well and I had to call off last minute. I came because I left my wallet here,” he held it up in his hand and waved it a little.

“Well thank God you came back.” Robb muttered, crossing his arms. The older man laughed: he looked tired, yet somehow relieved. Robb obviously had no idea what happened to his mum, but that didn’t look like it had been an easy day for Theon. He looked like he seriously needed a drink. And some company.

And Robb would have liked some company as well.

“We better get going: I need to drop this little guy home, first.” he said, his left hand brushing Rickon’s curls: he was still mad at him for throwing him into the pool, yet, somehow, Theon showed up for real. He seriously didn’t know how that was possible.

Rickon stared up at him, frowning: “What? Why can’t I come?”

Robb stared back at him: “Because you’re grounded” he said, like that explained everything, and it did. Sort of: no way in hell he would have taken him anywhere with him anytime soon after what he had done, and no way in hell he would have taken him with him when he had the chance to stay with Theon alone and figure out whether the guy was into him or not.

“What? You can’t ground me!” The little kid protested, stomping his foot.

Robb’s eyebrow curled up: “After what you did? Yes, I can.”

“Robb, you can’t ground me!”

Theon chuckled lighlty at that, and put a black backpack over his shoulder. Robb stared into that stranger’s eyes, and smiled in return: he barely even knew him, but he had helped him twice and Robb felt the need it was all just an accident (double accident) and that he really wasn’t that stupid.

“Wait til I tell mum” he told Rickon.

“Robb!” The kid yelled, as his older brother rested a hand on the back of his neck and guided him out of the dressing room.

Theon followed them with his car. It was pretty weird and also a little creepy to show a stranger where his family lived, yet, Robb had to remind himself, that stranger had saved his life and that stranger was also a potential fuck buddy. Or eventual boyfriend, if things went as he hoped, if he turned out to be the kind of cool dude Robb hope he would be.

The moment Rickon got out the car, Robb picked him up over his shoulder and led him inside the house; just like it happened most of the time, Arya and Gendry, her boyfriend, were making out on the couch. They didn’t pull away even when he walked pass them.

“Tell mum he’s grounded, will you?” Robb said, hoping his sister could still hear him, as he set Rickon to the ground and gestured him to go to his room. The kid stuck his tongue out at him, but obeyed anyway.

“What did he do?” Arya mumbled, half paying attention to him but at least finally talking to him.

Robb shook his head: “You just tell her” if he told her what happened, she would have made fun of him for a lifetime, and it seemed like Robb already had someone who made fun of him, and that was enough. He didn’t need to be bullied by his baby sister as well.

He left his old house in a rush, hoping he didn’t make Theon wait too much. Yet, there he was: he was leaning onto his car, arms crossed and that teasing yet unfairly charming smirk on his lips.

“There you are” he said.

Robb shrugged: “Here I am.” He said, and now there they were, one in front of the other, for once with their clothes dry. Although those weren’t Robb’s clothes and he had even wore and washed the clothes Theon was wearing right now.

“So, where do you want to go?” He asked him. He could have taken him to the pub where he usually spent his Friday evenings, although he seriously feared he could find Loras and Renly there and therefore he would have had to put up with their glances all the time.

Theon shook his head: “Everywhere’s just fine: it’s cool to visit some new places.” he said.

Robb scratched the back of his head and lowered his glance; his eyes landed on Theon’s legs: if his jeans had felt too tight and too long on Robb, on Theon they looked perfect. They hugged his legs and emphasized his muscles. And if he kept on staring he would have looked like a freak. He raised his head once again, locking his eyes into Theon’s, and said the first thing that came to his mind: “Okay, have you ever been to The King’s Rose?”

Going to The King’s Rose meant they would have bumped into Loras and Renly, but he couldn’t come up with any other pub, right now. Not when he had such a beautiful face in front of him, it was confusing him and tarnishing his mind.

Theon’s dimples looked kind of childish in contrast to the sharp features of his face, yet they looked cute on him, creating a perfect balance.

“No but it sounds pretty poetic.” he said, tilting his head to the side.

Robb smiled nervously: “It is, my best friend met his soulmate there.”

Oh shit, did he fuck up? Why did he have to use the word ‘soulmate’? Why, of all the things he could have said, he said _that?!_ Did he look like he wanted to... charm him? God, he looked so stupid.

“But anyway, it’s a nice place” he said, trying to make up for all the stupid shit he had been saying.

Yet, the more he looked stupid, the less Theon teased him and the more he softened: right now, he just nodded and smiled, blinking a couple times, as if he was staring to a hurt puppy.

Robb nodded as well: “Let’s go then.” He said, heading towards his car.

Damn, he really was about to do it. Why did he even like to make a fool out of himself, again? Because it really seemed like he enjoyed to be a mess in front of a hot guy.

Loras and Renly where there, obviously. They kept looking at Robb and making weird faces all the time: they seemed to agree about Theon’s good looks, and Robb had to stop being friends with such little shit, because when Renly curled his fingers into a circle and made his other index finger go in and out the circle, he risked choking on his rosé.

Theon must have noticed something was wrong, but thank god he decided not to embarrass him further. Instead, he just grabbed his drink and took a sip.

“So, what do you do?” He asked him.

“Apart from falling into dolphin pools and getting rescued by handsome black haired men” he winked. He couldn’t see Loras and Renly (thank fucking god) but Robb could bet his ass he would have got along with them right away, by just seeing them at the other table smirking and chuckling. That was probably one of the negative sides of managing to get to know him better: his eventual friendship with Loras and Renly that would have only led to more teasing for Robb.

“I used to study law, but I quit.” He explained, staring at the ice cubes in his drink.

Theon chuckled: his laugh was a little raspy and deep, but that was just another thing that made him look even hotter.

“Oh yeah, that was like... reason number one why you fell into the pool the first time” he said.

Robb nodded, ashamed: “Yeah” his hair was still wet and his socks and shoes were still soaking wet, his feet were freezing: he enjoyed (teasing aside) being there with Theon, yet he had to admit he was really looking forward to go home, take a hot shower, grab a blanket and cuddle with his dog on the couch.

“You didn’t like it?” Theon asked him, obviously referring to the university.

Robb shook his head: “Not really...” the correct and most honest answer would have been ‘not at all’ but Robb still wasn’t ready for that conversation to come up.

Theon tilted his head forward, black locks that he had previously settled behind his ears, falling right back over his sharp cheeks.

“Well, what do you like?”

Good question. That was a really good question. Especially because Ro still didn’t have an answer to it.

“I don’t know...” he admitted, looking back at his shoes.

“You don’t?”

“No I just... I never really had the chance to think about it. Everyone was expecting me to do that and I did.” He said. He bit the inside of his cheek: what did he say that? I mean, it was the truth but... he didn’t talk about it with his friends, nor not so often at least. Theon was basically still a stranger. And, above all, they were just starting to know each other, and Robb didn’t want to whine about all his problems. Not already.

Theon smirked: this time the teasing was there, Robb could see it, but he could see a hint of compassion as well. He was probably making fun of him inside his head, yet not completely. Robb would have liked to read his mind: _do you like me? If you don’t I’ll leave and anxiety will finally leave me alone, if you do we’ll meet each other again and anxiety will finally leave me alone._

“You’re the oldest in your family aren’t you?” Theon said suddenly.

Robb nodded: “Yeah, is that so obvious?”

Theon laughed. Out loud. His voice was deep and husky, yet when he laughed so heartedly his voice echoed all over the room. It was such anice sound.

“It is, golden boy.” He said, as Loras, a few tables beind him, gave Robb a thumbs up. The redhead ignored him and focused himself on the words of the guy in front of him: “You should let your daddy issues aside, when it comes to your mental health.”

Robb’s cheek went on fire: it wasn’t that. He didn’t have daddy issues: his dad was okay with him quitting uni; his mum wasn’t but she would have ended up supporting him anyway. The main reason why Robb had decided to study something he didn’t like was only his fault: he just couldn’t say no. Even if that meant that things wouldn’t have been so great for him.

“I don’t have daddy issues, I have... Robb issues?” he said, his eyebrows curling in confusion and embarrassment.

Some of the tease abandoned Theon’s eyes, while compassion took over a little bit more: “You need to figure out what you like” he said, gently.

Robb sighed: “Yeah I know. I think I’ll just... join a cooking club and see if I like it. If I don’t I’ll just try something else.” He had never planned it, actually. That idea had come out of his mouth right now, probably because he wanted to show Theon he wasn’t exactly a lost cause. But he was.

But Theon smiled, and this time Robb couldn’t really read the emotions in his eyes: this was new. His eyes were shining, his mouth was thin and his dimples weren’t completely stretched. Yet he looked happy, interested.

“You’re pretty cool, you know?” he said, finally.

The lump in Robb’s throat finally disappeared: god. Oh my god. The hot dolphin trainer he liked actually liked him as well. He didn’t think he was stupid. Or maybe he did, but that still didn’t stop his interest. Fuck, yeah!

Robb found himself smiling: “Am I?”

Theon nodded: “Kind of. I’d like to get to see you in your clothes and dry before I decide that, though.” he chuckled again, snorting a little. Renly closed his hand in a sort of fist and pretended to be sucking a dick. Loras smacked his arms, while laughing. Robb wished he didn’t have any friends.

He stared back at Theon, looking guilty: “You’ll get to see me in my own clothes someday, I swear” he said.

Theon’s eyebrow literally jumped up: “Really? When?”

There he was, the mischievous grin. So that was it, they would have seen each other again. Robb only had to decide when. It was up to him, Theon was _leaving_ it up to him.

“Huh...” he started, but Theon didn’t let him finish: “Tomorrow? For dinner?” he suggested.

Tomorrow. A dinner with him, with the hot dolphin trainer. Fuck, yes.

Robb nodded, a few times, too many times: “...yeah. I’d like that.”

Theon clapped his hands: “Wonderful. Give me your phone.” He extended a hand. his fingers were so long, there was a golden ring on his thumb. Robb placed his (brand new) phone in his palm and for a moment their fingertips brushed against each other.

Theon started typing, then handed him the phone right back a few seconds later: “Now, this is my number: I’m expecting a text from you tonight.” he had saved himself on Robb’s phone under the name ‘My Savior’ followed by the emoji of an anchor.

Robb shook his head and chuckled: he had a point, after all.

“Yeah, okay. Cool.” He said.

Theon nodded, then got up from his chair and all of sudden his lips were resting on Robb’s cheek, right above his beard. They were soft, delicate, Theon’s hand was above his knee and Robb could have bet both his hands that his face was the same color of his hair.

When Theon pulled away, he was smirking: “You’re sexy when you blush.” He whispered, then winked at him.

“See ya.” he said, finally. He grabbed his backpack and left the pub, running a hand through his long black hair. When he got out the door, he waved at Robb one last time from the glass wall. Robb waved back.

And when he was finally out of sight, Loras and Renly rushed to Robb’s table, eager to know all the details.

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I hope you enjoy!


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